How do I save the original $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']; on a page that refreshes several times?

Question

I have a page where I need to get the referring URL so I can redirect them back after they compete a form. My problem is, the form has several drop menus and each time a selecti

Answer 1

if($_SESSION['GOBACK']=='')
{
  $_SESSION['GOBACK'] = $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
}

This seems to work. Thanks everyone.

Answer 2

If you insist on doing it with forms and hidden inputs, that's easy.

<input type="hidden" name="referrer" value="<?php echo $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']; ?>" />

You could also do it with sessions, though, supposing you use session_start().

session_start();// At the very top of your page. Literally THE TOP.

// Set our session variable only if it is not currently set. 
if (!isset($_SESSION['referrer'])) {
    $_SESSION['referrer'] = $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
}

For more on sessions, see this. Sessions were meant for just this sort of thing, taking variables across pages and preserving state.

Answer 3

When they go to the page save the referrer in a session variable.

After it refreshes and does the page logic, redirect to the session variable you saved.

Answer 4

Store the referer in the first request into a session variable or a cookie. $_SESSION or $_COOKIE super globals can help achieve this.

I recommend sessions as the user won't be able to hijack the value locally.